Just finished a 20 km run. My hip wasn’t too bad, although it tends to fatigue the further I run. The result was I was shuffling a little toward the end of today’s run. But I’m managing to put in decent distances. Last week I totalled 110 km, my longest week in more than two months.

The Icarus Ultrafest was held this past week in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Last year I won the 12 hour race, my first ever international ultra marathon win. On that occasion it was run in 30 C heat and 96% humidity. Apparently the conditions were much more conducive this year, with significantly lower temperatures and humidity. In fact, I was told the conditions were as ideal as you could get. Wow, how I wish I’d run the race this year and not last. But that’s the luck of the draw. Everyone had to endure the same oppressive conditions last year, so I can’t complain.

Following on from the photo from two days ago, here is another photo taken that same day, although about 50 km further down the road. Pretty much all you can see in the background here is part of South Park County in Colorado. There isn’t much there other than farming land and ranches. Most towns are very small. Fairplay, the real life town of South Park fame, was the biggest I passed through.

On This Day

Nov 21, 2012

Distance today = 46.55 km; Total distance = 14,720.46 km; Location = Villa Mercedes, Argentina (10 km east of) – 33 41.503′ S, 65 21.453′ W; Start time = 0909, Finish time = 1614

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/245493783

A nice easy day of running, down an ever so slight incline the whole time. Although I’ve been running on a main highway, there is a good shoulder, and the traffic is not too heavy. Not sure how the driver managed it, but I passed a car that had rolled on this dead straight and flat road.

After yesterday’s hail storm, the early morning was cooler, but it still reached the mid 30s by the afternoon. Running in heat is always harder. All the same, I felt pretty good all day.

Nearing the end of the day, Carmel had driven ahead a little and was intending to stop at an overhead bridge to take a photo. However, there were two prostitutes who had positioned themselves under the bridge. This may seem strange, but Dave and I had seen the same thing in Europe when cycling. The girls often stand along a country road, and their clients come and pick them up, then drop them off. Anyhow, Carmel drove on a little, but obviously not far enough to be out of the “red zone”. While she was sitting in the car, a guy came up and asked her “Cuanto? (How much?). Luckily she had the windows wound up and all doors locked at the time. All the same, a funny end to the day.